China overtakes Singapore as Malaysia's largest property investor

China has become Malaysia's largest real estate investor. [Photo: news.517best.com]

In the past three years, Chinese companies have invested over USD 2.1 billion in real estate in Malaysia, making China Malaysia's largest property investor.

Singapore fell to second with investment of USD 985 million.

As Financial Times reported, Chinese investors have been impelled by the soaring price of domestic real estate to seek opportunities abroad. 

They hope to seek cheaper alternatives than Australia and Hong Kong for property investment. Malaysia has become a popular destination for this type of investment.

Given Malaysia's clean air, low-cost living and close proximity to Singapore, large numbers of Chinese people have settled down there. 

In accordance with the policy "Malaysia My Second Home," as many as 8,000 Chinese people have been approved for Permanent Residence, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia.

"Chinese investors now have more choices, to invest in Europe and America is also easy for them. But it differs by people, investing in Malaysia is more economical and practical," says Sigrid Zialcita, Managing Director of Research Services for the Asia Pacific region of Cushman & Wakefield, a leading global real estate services firm.

In accordance with the policy "Malaysia My Second Home," as many as 8,000 Chinese people have been approved for Permanent Residence. [Photo: tieba.baidu.com]

Traditionally, Singapore is one of the largest overseas property investors in Asia, as well as Malaysia's largest foreign investor. However, China has increased its investment in Malaysia as China-Malaysia friendly relations grow.

Last week, Jack Ma, the executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, said in a speech that Alibaba will set up a regional distribution hub in Malaysia, for what Ma calls the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP).

Further, a large real estate project called Forest City, developed by the Country Garden, a Chinese property development company, is also underway in southern Malaysia.